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Thorsten Engler
'''Thorsten Engler' was a down-time German farmer who had lived near Amberg in the Upper Palatinate, until his village was destroyed in the war. By the end of 1633, he was in Magdeburg, where he was working at Quentin Underwood's coal gas-and-coke plant. He had recently been promoted from repairman to night shift foreman after the previous foreman had died of influenza. However, he had been rushed into the job without adequate training, and did not really understand why some things had to be done the way they were. This was significant because, thanks to the influenza outbreak, several people on the shift were doing jobs they had not been trained for, and did not really understand. He was on duty the night the plant caught fire and exploded, and was fired as a result, though he was in no way responsible. While investigating the possible cause of a failure in the gas supply, he learned that Robert Stiteler, a crane operator who was filling in as a coal-loader, had removed a grate designed to keep fine pieces of coal out of the retorts, as he did not know that that was its purpose or why that was important. As a result, the gas main had become blocked, and a retort cracked and caught fire. Engler sent for the local fire brigade, which had pumps and hoses, but no experience in fighting that sort of fire; their initial attempt resulted in the explosion which destroyed the plant's furnace room and killed Stiteler. Engler's friend and co-worker, Eric Krenz was a CoC member, and got together with Gunther Achterhof to convince Engler to follow Krenz into the new volley gun units that the USE Army was forming. This included getting Frank Jackson, who was in charge of the units, and who seriously disliked Underwood, to sign them up. Engler joined as a sergeant. Also, Krenz and Achterhof suggested that he see the social workers who worked for the USE's Department of Social Services, as he was flashing back to, and having nightmares about, Stiteler's death. When he did this, he met up-timer Caroline Platzer, one of the workers who was also the office's part-time receptionist. He was instantly taken with her, and she was also interested in him. He also met Princess Christina during one visit to the settlement house Caroline worked at. Christina was quite taken with him and told him that she would ask her father to make Engler a count. Engler and Platzer became engaged in March of 1634, after Christina personally rode Platzer to the army camp Engler was at before leaving from Magdeburg. He fought at the Battle of Ahrensbök and captured two senior French officers. He then became Imperial count of Narnia as both a reward and to fulfill Kristina's demands. By the fall of 1634, he had become an officer, and in 1635, his unit became part of the USE Army's Third Division. During the Eastern War, he fought at Zwenkau, and his unit was used to execute soldiers who had committed atrocities at Świebodzin. After that, he was attached to the Hangman Regiment, and fought at Zielona Góra. His unit played a key role in the Battle of Ostra, and was the unit which unknowingly found and killed Johan Banér. By April 1636, Engler was put in charge of all the Third Division's flying artillery units by General Stearns after the latter had detached the former's unit from the Hangman Regiment. Stearns then gave him the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, despite the rank not officially existing in the army. Awards/Titles/Ranks Received * Imperial Count of Narnia * USE Army Lieutenant Colonel * Silver Star * Purple Heart * Imperial Austrian Order of Ferdinand * Royal Order of Kalmar * Brigadier General References Category:Germans Category:Soldiers Category:1632 Characters Category:1632 series Category:Article stubs